Dal frammento all’oggetto: l’elmo (votivo?) dall’abitato di Monte Casale (prov. Siracusa)

Abstract

The paper focuses on a fragmentary chalcidian helmet that was found during Paolo Orsi’s excavations in 1931 in the
settlement of Monte Casale, the ancient of Kasmenai.
On the basis of the helmet fragment, an effort is made to reconstruct the objects’s “biography”, beginning with a
contextual analysis of the find, aided by the excavation notebooks, and culminating in an interpretation of the context
within a dwelling. Indeed, one would expect to find such a helmet among the votive offerings of the urban sanctuary,
which has yielded the largest assemblage of offensive iron weapons in southern Italy. The helmet’s typological identification,
along with indicators of destruction, provides further elements to the reconstruction of the biography of this
artefact. Additionally, paper takes the opportunity to reconsider the finds of helmets in Sicily dating between the 6th
and 5th centuries BC, relying on the latest published data.